Currently:

Visiting Assistant Professor, Skidmore College Dept. of Geosciences

I study processes in the crusts and mantles of rocky planets using mineralogical, petrological, and geochemical tools. My work combines in-situ methods (e.g., EPMA, EBSD, LA-ICP-MS) with mineral and bulk rock geochemistry (e.g., major and trace elements, O, Nd, Sr, and B isotopes), detailed characterization of thin sections, and numerical modelling.

My research includes study of critical mineral deposit formation, early Earth petrology and tectonics, pure and applied mineralogy and crystallography, planetary geology, and relationships between subduction and mantle dynamics. The “Publications in Brief” page gives short descriptions of my papers and links to download them.

Research motivations:

Rock mineralogy preserves information about changes to Earth’s crust and mantle through time. I’m particularly interested in how rock types common on the early Earth, such as banded iron formations and massif-type anorthosites, record the stories of how a tectonically active planet’s surface environments, lithosphere, and mantle co-evolve. These processes also help us understand how Earth may be similar to, or different from, other rocky planets at various stages of their lifetimes.

I also work to improve the tools we have to extract geologically valuable information from rock-forming minerals. One of my specialties is studying exsolution textures, especially in garnet. These structures hold a wealth of data about mineral chemistry as well as about the pressure, temperature, and deformation conditions at which exsolution occurred. They are also quite beautiful!

Orthopyroxene megacrysts in anorthosite, Adirondack Mountains, NY, USA

Orthopyroxene megacrysts in anorthosite, Adirondack Mountains, NY, USA

Fieldwork:

I believe that field geology is an important part of placing mineralogical, petrological, and geochemical samples and data in a broader context. My work includes a field component to ground it in regional geology and tectonics.

My field research experience has brought my around the world and includes: Maryland, USA (undergraduate thesis); Broken Hill, Australia; Central Maine Terrane, CT, USA (PhD dissertation); Tinos Island, Greece; Adirondack highlands, NY, USA.

I have also contributed to others’ education in field geology by co-planning and co-leading Yale field trips in New England and Japan. I look forward to more field teaching in the future!